I'm very curious to see if Peyton Manning's failure to win the Super Bowl last night effects his inclusion in Top 5 lists or Brett Favre has the same issue as well. Here are some candidates with the link to their Pro-Football-Reference page (you can use someone not on this list, but I figured I'd list a bunch). Put your top 5 in the comments below
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Well...since it's taken a while to get going, I'll get started: I'm going with Montana, Marino, and Unitas as my top 3, Favre as #4, and Manning as #5 with Tarkington and Elway very, very close.
ReplyDeleteI had an easy time ranking my top 3 and then a much harder time ranking the rest of the list
I haven't decided on my rankings but you have to include Roger Staubach in the list of potential candidates
ReplyDeleteSorry. Not feeling the Montana love. Let's take a look at the stats. Montana started more than 10 games just 10 times, resulting in a career of 164 starts, producing 40,551 yards and 273 TDs/139 INTS.
ReplyDeleteFavre? He might be a douche but he started 269 straight games, which is over 100 more than Montana. He has passed for 69,329 yards (and counting!) and 497 TDs/317 INTs. He also made the playoffs 11 times.
Yes, Montana has more Super Bowl rings, but he also played on better teams in his short career than Favre did in GB. And Favre does have his one 1996 ring.
So, to add it all up, Favre has 28,778 MORE passing yards than Montana. (To illustrate how much that is, Tom Brady has only thrown for 30,844 yards in his career, so Favre has out-passed Montana by nearly an entire Brady career.) Favre threw for 224 more TDs than Montana (and still counting) which is almost exactly how many Steve Young threw in his entire career (232).
Montana certainly was a clutch QB who also benefitted from some great coaching (Bill Walsh) and some great surrounding talent (everyone from Jerry Rice to Roger Craig and Ronnie Lott). Brett Favre had Donald Driver, Sterling Sharpe, and Dorsey Levens. The Super Bowl advantage is overblown, as evidenced by everyone criticizing Peyton Manning for last night's loss as if he's somehow not one of the best QBs ever. Losing SBs doesn't break you (see: Kelly, Jim) and winning SBs doesn't make you (see: Aikman, Troy, who did not even break Andrew's list of 15 candidates!!)
Look, I don't judge a QB by just how many SBs he has won. That's why my Top 5 list looks like this...going equally on numbers, longevity/endurance, style & legacy, and yes, Super Bowl rings:
1. Peyton Manning
2. Brett Favre
3. Dan Marino
4. Johnny Unitas
5. Joe Montana
Staubach is an interesting one. I was going to include him on here but he doesn't rank all that high in any one category, never won an MVP, started only 114 games (Peyton already has 176 starts), and was most comparable in his career (according to Pro-Football-Reference) to Donovan McNabb, Mark Brunell, Trent Green, and Steve McNair.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't exactly sound like he'd be a great candidate. This may be one case where perception is greater than reality
I don't see how anybody could put Peyton Manning in the top 3 after yesterday's performance. That was one of the worst INT's in Super Bowl history, none of us are ever going to forget it. Also, does anyone notice that the Colts scored 7 pts in the final 3 Qtrs after up 10-0?? This was a against a Defense who gave up almost 500 yards of Offense 2 wks ago. Yikes!
ReplyDeleteFootball is not about STATs like baseball. I've always believed (and I hate to say this) that Montana is untouchable. He's the best ever, so clutch. Yes, he had great athletes around him but so did Peyton Manning. Think about it, do the Colts lose last night with Montana? I don't think they do. Some of his performances were astounding, the 1990 SB against the number 1 Defense in the NFL. He was so tough to beat, even the two losses in the playoffs to my beloved G-men were due to injury. And lastly, he was so calm in big moments.
Unites I guess #2 and I will put Brady (gag!) on this short list.
I think Kurt Warner (yes, him) should be on the list to choose from above. I really think he was that good.